For Kelsey and Lauren, a life-long pursuit is ending

Lauren Bilenki, Taylor Lawson and Kelsey Makoul started at Parkettes at 18 months of age.

Kelsey Makoul and Lauren Bilenki were not yet out of diapers when their mothers first brought them to the Parkettes National Training Center for Mommy and Me classes. Both toddlers were about 18 months old.

Both are now 17. Kelsey is a senior at Salisbury High School and Lauren is a senior at Parkland High School. This weekend, both of them made their usual treks to Fourth Street and Martin Luther King Drive in Allentown. But, this time was different. Kelsey and Lauren would be competing in the Parkette Invitational Meet for the final time.

"I feel like I'm going to continue, but I know I'm not," said Kelsey, who was a member of the Level 9 championship team Friday in the 37th Parkette Invitational. And when pressed about what she'll do when this all comes to an end, she said, "I have no clue yet. I guess I'll just take it one day at a time."

Lauren, a Level 10 gymnast (that's just one level below Elite), took part in her final home meet on Saturday and said, "It was exciting, but sad. Parkettes is my second family and I don't want to leave."

Both girls will leave, however.

In April, Lauren will sign a letter of intent to accept a scholarship at West Chester University, so she knows gymnastics will remain in her future for at least four more years -- injury notwithstanding. Kelsey is still considering her college options. Ursinus has mentioned gymnastics, but she says "I don't know if I'll compete in college."

Both have been through a lot in the last 16+ years. Kelsey has had elbow, knee and ankle surgeries -- she broke four bones in her ankle at one time and says the doctor was "confused" about how it happened. Lauren's main problem has been with her back. She has a deteriorating disk. She also has had a stress fracture of her foot.

Was there ever a thought of giving up gymnastics and going into something else -- diving perhaps? That seems to be a logical transition for gymnasts these days.

"I had many discussions with my parents about stopping, whenever I was injured," Kelsey said. But when she would come back into the gym, the Parkettes coaches would "get my head cleared" and she would move on. Then, smiling sheepishly, she added, "Actually, I love swimming, but I'm scared of diving. I guess bellyflopping on water scares me."

Lauren says she "always loved gymnastics, and I could never leave it." Case closed.

Kelsey and Lauren were both in the gym when Kristen Maloney won a couple of national championships and earned a spot on the bronze medal-winning 2000 Olympic team. Did they want to be Olympians, too?

"I had that dream, but about half way through middle school, the injuries started coming," Kelsey said. She has been competing in Level 9 for the last four or five years and has been comfortable with that. She was an alternate to the 2010 Level 9 nationals.

"At one point, every girl has that dream," Lauren said. "I'm happy with Level 10. The Olympic dream became the college scholarship dream for me." She competed in the Level 9 nationals in 2008 as the highlight of her Parkettes career.

Both girls have friends outside the gym, although they admit it's difficult to make the commitment some other girls want.

"Time is limited, so you have to manage your time. You do lose some friends," Lauren said. Kelsey said weekends and Friday evenings are time for the "outside" friends, but she added, "I lost a lot of friends because they thought I didn't have the time for them. Girl drama, and all that."

Lauren is one of those kids who is willing to go the extra mile when it comes to Parkettes, and she said, "I just try to be involved. The coaches give us so much and I think I should give back. They put in a lot of time."

Well, if Lauren and Kelsey added up the number of hours they have spent in gymnastics, we might all be impressed. I know I was.

A personal note: Kelsey's dad, John, is a cousin of the late Dick Makoul, who was a football teammate of mine at Raub Junior High and Allentown High in the 1950s. I can see a bit of Dick in her, and I think Dick would be proud to be watching her. I asked her if she considered herself tough, and she hesitated before saying, "I've been told that, yes." Dick was tough, too.

A LOOK BACK AT LEVEL 9

Parkettes A gymnasts took the top two all-around spots in the Session 3, 9-12-year-old division on Friday and led the host gym to the Level 9 team championship on the opening day of the 37th Parkette Invitational.

Taylor Lawson led the way for Parkettes A with the session's best 9-12 score on uneven bars (9.075) and floor exercise (9.375) to post a winning all-around total of 37.175. She had a very consistent meet, taking second on balance beam (9.375) and third on vault (9.35).

Taylor is following in the footsteps of her sister, Brooke, a former Parkette who competed at Bridgeport University and is 10 years older than Taylor, who lives in Lower Macungie Township. Like Kelsey and Lauren, Taylor started in a Mommy and Me class when she was just 18 months old. Floor exercise is her favorite event, and last year she was a Level 8 regional qualifier, where she finished fourth all-around. She will move to Level 10 next year and has Olympic hopes for 2020.

Erica Fuchs was second all-around with 35.95, including the fourth best on vault (9.3) and the fifth best on balance beam (9.2) and floor exercise (9.3). Christina Desiderio was 10th all-around, but her 9.45 vault was best in the division and her 9.375 floor routine was second best.

Kelsey Makoul was the fourth member of the championship team. Competing in the 15&up division in a different session, she took first all-around with a 35.325 that included an outstanding 9.6 vault and a winning 9.375 on floor.

Parkettes A registered a team score of 143.625, beating out Hill's Gymnastics of Gaithersburg, Md. (140.4) and World Class of Newport News, Va. (139.975). Fourth place went to Atlantic Coast of Williamsburg, N.J.,and fifth to Brestyan's American of Burlington, Mass. The only problem for the Parkettes A came on the uneven bars, where their four-gymnast score was middle of the pack. But the girls more than made up for it with a first-place 37.7 on vault and a first-place 37.425 on floor exercise.

Parkettes B did not fare well as a team, but Lauren Sassaman and Molly Frack were fifth and eighth all-around, respectively, in the same Session 3 9-12 division that was dominated by Lawson and Fuchs.

Here are the top three scores from the four Level 9 sessions combined, with the gymnast's age group in parentheses.